Tree felling, October 2010

Before:

We have just completed the felling of 60 sycamores within ‘compartment M’ at our Brown Robin Nature Reserve. This area at the reserve’s southern entrance was almost entirely made up of sycamore, resulting in heavy shading and a poor diversity of plants at ground level. Felling creates a number of important habitats such as fallen and standing deadwood, and allows the development of young saplings, which are essential to some species’ life cycles. Some of the wood will now be sold to the neighbouring hotel, providing income for the Trust and reducing the carbon footprint of our neighbours.

After:

Ten areas have been identified across the reserve where sycamores should be removed by 2012. Although sycamore is found throughout the reserve, in these areas it was thought to be a problem due to:

• Total domination over other species, with heavy shade and little diversity in the ground flora.
• Tall sycamores out-competing other less common trees or older specimens, such as yew, small-leaved lime or open grown ash.

There are additional benefits to taking the trees down, as in each felling area dead wood is created, and more light is allowed in, encouraging rapid growth of young trees.

Dead wood is an essential component of healthy woodlands, and many species of fungi, insects and birds struggle to exist without it. At Brown Robin, as in many other woods, fallen trees have been taken away as firewood, so dead wood is not allowed to build up. Another problem at the reserve is that of too many deer. Deer browse any young tree seedlings that they can gain access to, ultimately leading to a woodland without any young trees. Some of the felling plots at Brown Robin will be fenced to keep deer out, so within a few years of felling large sycamores there will be a number of pockets of dense young woodland growing up to replace them.

A newly felled sycamore provides a continuing supply of dead wood for fungi and invertebrates: